Kernels

In a 1787 letter posted from Paris, where he was serving as a diplomat, Thomas Jefferson wrote that, unable to find corn in Europe, he had devoted his garden to a crop of corn, to be eaten on the cob, boiled, with salt. Whether Jefferson wished to impress his French friends with a unique American dish or whether he was merely homesick for traditional summer fare of Virginia, he does not say. Corn had been grown in North America for millenniums before Europeans arrived, and distinct races of corn had been selected for particular uses: corn meal, hominy, popcorn, corn beer and corn on the cob. With the settling of the continent, corn breeding gained momentum, and now corn is primarily an industrial crop, providing ethanol, animal feed and high-fructose corn syrup.

Looking for a simple way to remove corn from the cob without using a knife? The handy little Corn Twister from Kuhn Rikon should be able to help. Unlike a knife, whose straight edge can make a mess of kernels as they're cut from the cob, the Corn Twister comes with an incredibly sharp, round stainless steel blade, attached to a yellow tube. Fit the tube over an ear of corn and, as you push it over the cob, the blade rotates, cleanly slicing the kernels away. The two-part gadget also comes with a green silicone sleeve made to look like leaves.

THE best tool for removing kernels from an ear of corn is a good set of teeth -- a technique that's acceptable only for eating, of course. For recipes, there are dedicated tools, but do they do the job any better than a kitchen knife or box grater? We put two to the test. First, the tool you need depends on the dish you're making. For recipes that call for whole kernels, such as salsas, salads and relishes, you need a device that cuts cleanly. Or a knife. For recipes such as chowder, souffles, puddings and creamed corn, you want a gadget that will scrape the kernels from the cob, so that their milk is released.

Looking for a simple way to remove corn from the cob without using a knife? The handy little Corn Twister from Kuhn Rikon should be able to help. Unlike a knife, whose straight edge can make a mess of kernels as they're cut from the cob, the Corn Twister comes with an incredibly sharp, round stainless steel blade, attached to a yellow tube. Fit the tube over an ear of corn and, as you push it over the cob, the blade rotates, cleanly slicing the kernels away. The two-part gadget also comes with a green silicone sleeve made to look like leaves.

It's silly to think that popcorn seems to have been made for the movies. The two are simply inseparable. No other snack has replaced popcorn's top billing as the American movie-watcher's greatest comfort food. Popcorn addicts call it their fix; for others, popcorn is a security blanket, particularly during intense movie scenes. Could it also be replacing cigarette smoking?

It's repulsive-looking, and farmers call it corn smut. But when the fungus swells yellow corn kernels into a gray mass, Cristina Arnold sees a fortune in the rediscovery of an ancient delicacy. Chefs and diners are taking a liking to corn smut, also known as "maize mushrooms" or "Mexican truffles." Interest is strong enough that agricultural scientists are seeking ways to cultivate it and a few farmers are adopting a new attitude toward something they once plowed under as nature's garbage.

Green almonds, which look like small, immature, teardrop-shaped peaches, have started showing up at farmers markets, attracting attention from adventurous chefs. A traditional snack in the Mediterranean and Middle East, they're a foretaste of the main almond harvest to come. But they also have a particular allure from their velvety appearance and ultra-seasonal availability. The first green almonds are tender enough to eat whole and have a herbaceous taste, like a raw pea pod, but tart and astringent.

You can tell a lot about an ear of corn by breaking off a kernel and tasting it. What you want is a sweet flavor and a tender texture. Of course, if this sort of public taste test is embarrassing to you, simply buy a single ear of corn before committing yourself to a larger purchase. It's good insurance. This is especially important at a farmers' market, where you may find several corn stands selling produce of varying quality. To pick out the freshest corn, look at it.

Green almonds, which look like small, immature, teardrop-shaped peaches, have started showing up at farmers markets, attracting attention from adventurous chefs. A traditional snack in the Mediterranean and Middle East, they're a foretaste of the main almond harvest to come. But they also have a particular allure from their velvety appearance and ultra-seasonal availability. The first green almonds are tender enough to eat whole and have a herbaceous taste, like a raw pea pod, but tart and astringent.

In a 1787 letter posted from Paris, where he was serving as a diplomat, Thomas Jefferson wrote that, unable to find corn in Europe, he had devoted his garden to a crop of corn, to be eaten on the cob, boiled, with salt. Whether Jefferson wished to impress his French friends with a unique American dish or whether he was merely homesick for traditional summer fare of Virginia, he does not say. Corn had been grown in North America for millenniums before Europeans arrived, and distinct races of corn had been selected for particular uses: corn meal, hominy, popcorn, corn beer and corn on the cob. With the settling of the continent, corn breeding gained momentum, and now corn is primarily an industrial crop, providing ethanol, animal feed and high-fructose corn syrup.

Small, russet brown, and dotted with pockmarks, the Ashmead's Kernel apples grown organically by Windrose Farm in Paso Robles definitely won't win any beauty prizes. They do, however, have the most intense, complex flavor of any fruit in the world, strong and sharply sweet, with an aroma that reminds Britons of the traditional candies called pear drops -- derived, say chemists, from the amyl acetate ester. The catalog of Trees of Antiquity, the nursery in Paso Robles where Windrose bought this variety, describes the fruit as having a "crisp nutty snap," adding that it "explodes with Champagne-sherbet juice infused with a lingering scent of orange blossom."

Re "Corn is king -- and therefore a growing problem," March 2 This article illustrates that we need to learn from other countries that are successfully getting energy from sugar-cane-based ethanol. It seems that energy companies here are totally ignoring this cheap, efficient, abundant source of energy. Instead of making us fat, sugar could make us energy independent and help many of the poorer countries in the Western Hemisphere out of poverty with increased sugar prices. At the very least, we need to diversify our sources of energy.

Smogdance, Claremont's most famous film festival, runs Friday through Sunday at Harvey Mudd College, with the attractions including 44 films and a reliable popcorn machine. "We've finally found a good place to rent the machine," festival director Charlotte Cousins said with a laugh, meaning that the popcorn problems of earlier festivals are just a memory. Smogdance, now in its 10th year, has become so well-established that it can afford to be choosy about its program.

Many nutritionists believe that whole grains are better for you than their processed counterparts. But don't let that spoil a good thing. Wheat berries--unprocessed wheat kernels that are the primary source of many wheat flours--may indeed be good for you, but the chewy and slightly sweet berries are delicious in their own right. The wheat berry comprises the bran, germ and endosperm of wheat.